Hollywood comes to Washington for the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner

WASHINGTON – This weekend, Washington’s usual crowd of journalists, media personalities and political wonks will mix with a different crowd — the celebrities they cover.

The annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner will be held Saturday. And what started off as just a dinner to recognize and honor Washington’s journalists has become one of the area’s biggest celebrations.

“It’s sort of blown up into this almost week-long affair of parties and pre- parties and after-parties,” says Politico reporter Patrick Gavin, who adds that about 2,700 people attend Saturday’s main dinner at the Washington Hilton.

This year, the E! network is providing live red-carpet coverage of the dinner. “You usually expect (E!) at the Oscars or the Grammys or Golden Globes, but they’re now coming here,” says Gavin. “The list every year gets bigger and bigger, and for better or for worse it’s now the matter of who’s not coming here. You pretty much get all of the big stars.”